The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in Science. The lowest is 23% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Randall Elem.
Randall Elementary is a regular public school in Independence, Missouri, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits within the Independence 30 school district. Since the 2023-2024 school year, this district has operated on a four-day instructional week while maintaining the same number of educational minutes, with additional enrichment opportunities offered on some non-school Mondays. This is a lasting structural change that families need to factor into their weekly schedules and childcare arrangements.
The school serves a student body that is economically diverse in the sense that a substantial share of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially, the student population is a mix, with white students making up the largest single group, followed by Black and Hispanic students, along with a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races and a very small number of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. The enrollment is modest in size, and the school is located on Jennings Road in a residential part of the city.
On the Missouri Assessment Program, test results from a recent school year show a mixed picture across subjects and grade levels. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced ranged from roughly one in six at one grade level to nearly one in three at another, with the lowest grade tested falling between them. In English language arts, the results were similarly uneven. One grade level saw about one in four students reaching proficiency, another grade level was lower, while the fifth-grade class posted a rate close to half. In science, which is tested only at the fifth-grade level, the proficiency rate matched the fifth-grade English language arts figure, at about half.
When compared to other schools across the county, Randall Elementary’s overall proficiency picture sits above the midpoint among all schools in Jackson County. That is a relative measure, drawn from state testing data across several subjects and grades, and it places the school in the upper half of its county peers. At the same time, families looking at the actual rates of proficiency in the lower elementary grades will want to understand what academic support is available at the school and how the school approaches early literacy and math instruction.
The city of Independence is a large suburb west of Kansas City, covering a wide geographic area that ranges from more urban neighborhoods in the west to more rural areas in the east. It retains a historic downtown centered on the Jackson County Courthouse Square, which houses the Truman Presidential Library and Museum and other cultural sites. For the most part, everyday life outside that historic core is car-dependent. The school district is the city’s largest employer, joined by defense and healthcare employers. Housing in the zip code serving Randall Elementary tends to be more affordable than national averages, and the local rental market tracks slightly below what a typical household might spend on rent nationally.
A parent considering Randall Elementary will find a school that, by county-wide measures, performs in the upper half of its peers, but where the actual proficiency rates at tested grades in math and reading are below what many families might expect. The student body has a high concentration of economic need, which can affect the range of resources available. The district’s move to a four-day week is a significant operational factor that may or may not align with a family’s schedule. The school’s small size and early-elementary grade span mean that the transition to a larger middle school building will come after fifth grade, and families may want to ask what that pipeline looks like. Data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, and course access was not available in the materials reviewed, so those are areas a prospective parent may want to raise directly with the school.
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